Hubba Bubba People

Are you among the HubbaBubba people?

My friend Richard and I used to ride our bikes to the local convenience store and buy as much candy as we could carry. Then, we would stuff as many pieces of bubble gum into our mouths as we could, just short of choking. Not those wimpy sticks, mind you, but the jumbo blocks of gum as big as your fist. Grape was my favorite. The giant mass of purple, rubbery sweetness pushing our saliva glands to maximum warp. Mmmmm boy.

Sadly, the bliss was fleeting. Our taste buds, like hundreds of of tiny pink vampires, desanguinated the helpless blob within minutes, and we found ourselves chomping on silly putty. When our jaws began to cramp in protest, we would eject the lifeless glob and reach for a fresh pack.

I experience this HubbaBubbaphenomenon with other things in life now -- more sophisticated, adult things. Friendships, churches, books, worship music, goals. I consume them, and when they seemingly lose their flavor, I reach for a fresh fix. Sadly, I seldom "chew" them long enough to discover that after the initial rush of pleasure is gone, something far greater is released from them. Even when I do discover this, I still find myself longing for that shocking jolt of sweetness I get from new things. I'm still a HubbaBubba person.

Star Trek: The Early Years

No, this isn't one of Gene Roddenberry's first sketches. This is evidence of my good taste even at the tender age of 5. I was going through a collection of stuff my mom saved recently -- my kids got a real kick out of seeing my old drawings and school work.

As you can see, Kirk is featured prominently here. I knew even then that he was the man. Or this could be an illustration from my own original episode -- an alternate universe in which the crew has been replaced by menacing, box-like androids. The ship is obviously my own improvement on the Enterprise model. I did away with that cumbersome saucer section. You should see this baby fly! 0 to warp 9 in 5.34 seconds. And look at that massive red . . . thing! Impressive.

On a side note, my early interest in Star Trek should have been a tip-off that I would study philosophy some day. After all, the show was nothing more than a failed marketing strategy for the American Philosophical Association.